I can't believe all the hate for the e36 M3 on here... Benchmarks for the US and Euro spec M3s are nearly identical. Yes, it makes a lot less power than the European model, it's also more reliable and to answer the OP, they can be boosted pretty reliably.

The E36 M3 4 door is my favorite M3 (flame suit on).

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The euro model is completely different. They also offered a 3.0 and 3.2 displacement for the s50 (euro e36)
Most Europeans have never even heard of the s52